Can you put a 10" sub woofer in the stock location?

[bronchole]

My 1997 Mountaineer came with a 12" sub in a small enclosure, probably 16" x 16" x 10" or so. It is the most bass I have ever had in a vehicle and I don't use it to nearly what it is capable of.

I do allot of trips and like to use the back area to carry camping gear. Having the seperate sub box back there is not my preferred situation.

I am also more of a tight bass type of person and I think moving to a 10" sub would tighten up the bass a little bit and still perform to meet all of my expectations.

Is it possible to mount a 10" sub in the stock location? I know that it won't fit without significant modifications.

I searched and what i get back on the search is either a million un-related threads or I get nothing.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[daisyrocky]

Need to do quite a bit of mod. I was considering it for my 95 Ex with a Kenwood head unit and even brought a factory sub enclosure with amp complete unit from a salvage yard and a new jbl 8" sub to mount it but gave it up after having to go through all the BS. I ended up spending 500.00 for a complete perfect running 97 Eddie Bauer with factory JBL system and forgot about the 95 completely. Lol

 

[4rd4life]

i have seen a few people put 10s in the stock location, but i dont think your gonna get away with using the factory sub box. unless it was modified. i decided to just get myself a nice sounding 8" since some 10" subs dont have much more wattage then it does. so im using a polk mm series dvc and its wired to 2 ohms running at 300w... now it doesnt sound as good as a set of 12's but it sounds awesome for its size. comparable to any 10 i would say. just a thought

i had to make it ''fit'' into the stock sub box though

 

[Hunter32]

Or you can make your own box
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-S6rUG7e2O0MUMxQ2tCQ09LTms

Heres my 12" sub:

 

[4rd4life]

Heres my 12" sub:

nice work i still need to find something to cover the wood in mine lol

 

[bronchole]

Or you can make your own box
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-S6rUG7e2O0MUMxQ2tCQ09LTms

Heres my 12" sub:

Hmmmm, not that has got me thinking!

 

[Hunter32]

Now, I did have to modify the original design a little bit to get the 12" to fit. And for this area, I'd say 12" is the max size you can fit in there.

Search "stealth box" on this site and you'll come up with a lot more too

 

[bronchole]

Thanks for the "stealth box" tip. I'll research it tonight.

 

[sport97]

I would make sure you put a grill over the sub though. I know I always have crap in the back that would stab my sub. My current set up has an aftermarket 8" in the stock box. The grill on mine is all dented up.

Thanks for posting these plans, i had bookmarked it on my old comp but couldn't find it again! I may make this box this winter as a project to throw a 10" back there...

I agree, if you don't really listen to rap a 10" is nice for the tight crisp bass, not over powering. With a decent box a single 10 can still bump hard if you want it to though.

 

[bronchole]

The beauty of a 10" in that custom made enclosure is that if it is deepet than what would fit in that enclosure, you could make a spacer ring for it. I'm pretty sure this is the way I am going to go. Now to get the materials together and then get some time to do it

 

[sport97]

The beauty of a 10" in that custom made enclosure is that if it is deepet than what would fit in that enclosure, you could make a spacer ring for it. I'm pretty sure this is the way I am going to go. Now to get the materials together and then get some time to do it

Yeah, good call on the spacer. Lets you pick the sub you want. This is a nice rainy day project. I'm tired of my tiny little 8 in the plastic stock box. It way under performs.

 

[toypaseo]

I put a grill over mine. It takes just one little thing to tip toward the sub, and then puncture, rip, tear, ding, whatever to it.

Here is mine. My sub is an 8". I used a 10" speaker grill so I could cover the entire opening where the OEM grill was metal.

For clean looks, I opted for a 2pc grill that uses a ring mount system. It was purchased from http://www.parts-express.com

Currently, it has a small dent. I would much rather replace the grill, instead of finding another rare 2ohm 8" Kicker Solobaric.

Click on image for larger view.

I used an OEM enclosure. I think the internal space is around .33 ft² in mine. Is there even a 12" sub that could use that small of space...?

 

[rjcooperss396]

I have an Infinity Reference 10 in a Q-Logic box in the factory location in mine. I bought it years ago but I'm sure that someone still makes a box like it.

 

[bronchole]

Ya, I have noticed in the couple months that I have had the 12" in a box floating around in back that its got a couple marks in it.

I wonder if I can find some wire fan gaurds that are big enough to cover a 12" and/or a 10" sub. I just want something a bit more sturdy that what I am used to seeing for a speaker grill.

I just had a thought while I have been looking at the couple pics that you all have posted. If I made a 1" spacer that exactly fit in to the stock opening thru the fender panel. This would mate to the sub box and kinda pinch the panel to the box. I think it would make the installation look really clean and it would give that little bit of extra depth clearance for a deep woofer if needed.

 

[therangersteve]

When I head back to IL my 12 is going into a box, thanks for the plans I can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[bronchole]

So I am going to ask some construction questions here, you could probably point me to "sub woofer enclosure construction 101" if you have a link

So how important is the stiffness of the enclosure plates that make up the sub woofer box? Particularrly the front and back plate. I ask because it seems to be a compromise between the thickness of the material the box is constructed from, the internal volume of the box and the mounting depth of the woofer. I think that an additional support could also be added near or as near as the sub woofer will allow to the center of these panels that would connect the front and rear panels to dramatically improve the stiffness of these panels. This may allow for the use of 1/2" or 5/8" material instead of 1" material.

What is the preferred material? MDF or partical board? Why?



I intend to use a 10" sub woofer. As I mentioned befor I am not looking for the same level of performance I am currently getting from my 12" but rather a bit tighter bass and not necessaryilly the same intensity. Unfortunatly I guess I should get the specs on what exactly I am currently running. I'll try to get that together tonight.

The design I am contemplating should not have an issue with the mounting depth of the woofer because I intend to make a 0.5"-1.5" flange that will replace the stock insert for the side panel. This flange will bolt on to the sub enclosure trapping the side panel between the sub box and the flange. There will be a relief in the back of the flange that will fit thru the opening in the side panel and allow the flange to seal to the sub box. This should make for a very well finished look to the side panel, a slight bit more internal volume and increased woofer mounting depth while haveing a very minimal impact on the cargo area used for the sub woofer. For thoes of you thinking about a 12" sub, this flange concept should work very well although it may minimize the ammount of radius you can put on the flange and still make it look right.

I may back off of the idea of a 10" woofer and just make use of the exact woofer I already have. I guess I need to figure out what the mounting depth of it is first to make sure I won't need a 3" mounting flange to make it work

 

[DirtJunky]

Making your own stealth box is a lot more easier then it sounds. Might need a little trimming and cutting around it. I started with an 8" JL in the stock slot and now running a 12" alpine in the same box after a bit trim and expanding out just a bit

 

[toypaseo]

I wonder if I can find some wire fan gaurds that are big enough to cover a 12" and/or a 10" sub. I just want something a bit more sturdy that what I am used to seeing for a speaker grill.

Here is the grill I have on my sub in my Paseo. Powder coated 1.2 mm steel. It's pretty stout. I have never seen waffle style grills, of this weight, in any stereo shops I have been in. The ones I always ran across felt cheap, and thought they would cave in just from the loaded box tipping into them.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=262-862

They are available in sizes 8, 10, 12, 15, and 18...

 

[toypaseo]

Read this article by Crutchfield on building a subwoofer box...

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-TuAhxkpXD3b/learn/learningcenter/car/subwoofers/box_building.html

 

[Jstcruz]

I found this thread a while ago and built my box based on the info there.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86333&highlight=stealth+box